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Preterm infants myopic at birth, study finds
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WASHINGTON — Preterm infants without retinopathy of prematurity are myopic at birth, according to a study in India.
“Term babies are known to be hypermetropic, and preterm babies with retinopathy of prematurity are known to have myopia. We were surprised to find that premature infants without retinopathy of prematurity are also myopic,” said Raji M. Varghese, MD, here at the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus meeting.
Researchers at St. Stephens’ Hospital and Dr. Shroffs’ Charity Eye Hospital in Delhi, India, participated in a study examining the refractive error of preterm and full-term infants at birth.
Between June 2001 and September 2002, 1,174 eyes were examined in the first week of life with streak retinoscopy. Patients received 0.8% tropicamide drops with 0.5% phenylephrine to achieve cycloplegia and mydriasis. Refractive error was measured at the vertical and horizontal meridians of both eyes.
Severely premature infants were found to be myopic, with a mean refractive error of –4.79 D. Twenty-four infants had more than 4 D of anisometropia at birth. Mean refractive error was found to progressively decrease with increased gestational age, to +1.6 D at term. A maximum of 1.6 D of astigmatism was also seen at term, Dr. Varghese said.